Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a level sensor, a lithographic apparatus including a level sensor and a device manufacturing method.
Description of the Related Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Conventional lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the “scanning”-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction.
In general, the surface of a substrate on which a pattern should be projected is not completely flat. Moreover, a substrate can show thickness variation of several microns. This unflatness and/or thickness variation of the substrate surface may result in incorrect projection of the pattern, for instance due to focus errors or imaging errors. To correct for unflatness and/or thickness variation of a substrate, it has been proposed to provide a level sensor, desirably integrated in the lithographic apparatus. Such a level sensor may be used to determine a height map of a substrate, before a pattern is transferred, e.g., projected, on the substrate. This height map may subsequently be used to correct the position of the substrate during transfer of the pattern on the substrate, in order to maintain an aerial image of the patterning device into focus.
Typically, such a level sensor comprises a projection unit to project a measurement beam on the substrate, the projection unit comprising a projection grating arranged to impart the measurement beam with a substantially periodic radiation intensity; a detection unit, typically comprising two or more detectors, to receive the measurement beam after reflection on the substrate, and a processing unit to calculate a height level on the basis of the measurement beam parts received by the detectors of the detection unit.
In known arrangements, the detection unit of a level sensor may be rather bulky and complex, e.g. including a detection grating configured to split the reflected measurement beam into different parts which are received by separate sensors.